In recent years computers, computing devices and associated peripherals have been undergoing a continual process of improvement. For example, virtually all computers and computing devices have become smaller and lighter due to advances in electronic miniaturization. Due to this extensive miniaturization, among other things, it is now common for individuals and businesses to possess computing devices capable of performing a wide range of tasks requiring the collection and processing of data. Owners of such computing devices can capture this computing power by coupling many different modules to the device. This is especially true of multimedia applications used with such devices. Capturing and processing multimedia such as digital photographs, sound recordings and digital movies are well within the ability of a properly configured and equipped computing device. The types of data and information that might be gathered is limited only by the different functional modules that can be coupled to the computing device. Such modules might include, for example, external storage devices like hard drives or flash memory devices, radio frequency (‘RF’) or infrared wireless communication modules, Global Positioning System (‘GPS’) modules, television tuner modules, and the like.
Several options currently exist for coupling and decoupling modules to a computing device. Perhaps the most ubiquitous means of coupling external modules to a computing device is through Universal Serial Bus (‘USB’) ports. There are many other common interface methods, along with their associated connectors, such as IEEE 1394 (‘Firewire’), Centronics parallel, RS-232 serial, and the like. There are innumerable peripheral modules that take advantage of these electrical interface standards and their respective connectors.
All of these interface methods, however, suffer from a serious shortcoming. These interface methods are primarily electrical in nature and provide virtually no ability to rigidly and securely mechanically couple a module to a device while simultaneously providing the required electrical connectivity. Larger USB modules, for example, are almost invariably connected to a device by a standard USB cable. Such a cable obviously does nothing to physically secure the module to the device. Even with smaller USB modules, such as flash memory modules that plug directly into the USB port, the mechanical coupling between the module and the device is only ancillary to the electrical coupling. This shortcoming is likewise true of all the abovementioned interface standards and their connectivity ports.
This inability to rigidly and securely mechanically and electrically couple an external module to a computing device is particularly acute when dealing with portable computing devices. Using a USB cable, for example, to couple a camera module to a handheld computing device is cumbersome. The cable may tangle and is difficult to manage what are, except for their electrical coupling, essentially two different devices. In such situations it would be ideal if the camera module and the handheld computing device could be mechanically coupled together in a fashion that creates what is essentially a single physical device.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an electrical and mechanical attachment mechanism that provides a robust coupling mechanism that rigidly and securely mechanically couples a peripheral module to a computing device. Moreover, there is a need for such a mechanism to simultaneously provide electrical connectivity between the module and the device. There is also a need that such a mechanism be configurable so as to release the module from device in the event the module places undue mechanical stress on the device by, for example, being snagged on some other object.